Healthcare-Associated Infections by Multidrug-Resistant Bacteria in Patients Interned at Long-Term Care Facilities

Dear Colleagues,

Long-term care facilities (LTCF) are becoming an increasingly important component of healthcare delivery systems. They are one of the three levels of healthcare (alongside hospital care and primary healthcare), functioning as an interface between hospital and community. Given the very close relationship with hospitals (e.g., through the constant flow of patients between hospitals and LTCF), many of the problems related to healthcare-associated infections (HAI) and colonization by multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacteria already known in hospitals begin to emerge and persist in LTCF.

To better understand the dimension of the problem of the acquisition of HAI by MDR bacteria during internment at LCTF, this Special Issue aims to bring together research studies related to:

• Epidemiological surveillance of HAI by MDR bacteria in patients interned at LTCF;
• Risk factors for the acquisition of HAI during internment at LTCF;
• Transmission routes of MDR bacteria within LTCF, and between LTCF and other healthcare institutions or community;
• Molecular epidemiology of MDR bacteria in LTCF;
• Strategies to control the spread of MDR bacteria in LTCF.

Papers suggesting advanced detection and/or next-generation treatment approaches of these infections are also welcome.

This issue aims to enlarge the available literature regarding the worldwide occurrence of HAI by MDR bacteria in LTCF and the relevance of LTCF as reservoirs of clinically important MDR bacteria.

Dr. Elisabete Machado
Guest Editor

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